The Effects of Pictorial Stimuli on Direction Following of Mentally Retarded Adolescents. Project MORE Working Paper No. 300.

Tucker, Dennis J.; And Others

Two groups of retarded adolescents were presented sets of multiple verbal directions (imperative sentences). One group was exposed to pictures illustrating the objects and action of each direction in addition to the verbal directions. Subjects were required to carry out performances demanded by the directions. The direction-following behavior of the Verbal + Picture Group was found to be significantly superior to the Verbal Group. The groups did not differ significantly in sequencing their performances, i.e., carrying out the verbal directions in the order in which they were presented. Two possible explanations for the superior performance of the Verbal + Picture Group were offered: (1) pictures provided additional relevant stimuli which strengthened the stimulus-response relation between the spoken directions and the required performances; (2) pictures induced visual imagery which increased associations of the stimuli (pictures and spoken words) and the responses (direction-following). (WCM)